Method and system for managing the lifecycles of media assets

ABSTRACT

There is provided a method for managing the lifecycles of one or more media assets. The method comprises importing the one or more media assets into a system for managing the lifecycles of the one or more media assets, determining one or more metadata tags for association with the one or more media assets by evaluating the one or more media assets with one or more tagging filters, associating the one or more metadata tags with the one or more media assets after determining one or more metadata tags for association with the one or more media assets, and grouping the one or more media assets according to the one or more metadata tags associated with the one or more media assets by evaluating the one or more metadata tags with one or more grouping filters to generate one or more media asset groups.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to media asset management. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to media asset lifecyclemanagement.

2. Background Art

The creation rate of media assets such as audio recordings, pictures,and videos has increased tremendously because of the proliferation ofdigital recording and communication systems. Before this proliferation,the restricted availability of the means of producing and copying mediaassets meant that managing such media assets' lifecycles was relativelystraightforward. Ad-hoc or manual processes were adequate for thepurposes of deciding if a given media asset violated a copyright law,went against a decency guideline, or was simply no longer relevant andrequired deletion. Now, however, those processes tend to be overwhelmedby the flood of media assets that are created with the aid of moderntechnology.

The problem of media asset lifecycle management is distinct from theproblem of storing such media assets. In the present state of the art,storage of media assets can be accomplished by digital contentmanagement systems, which absorb the modern content flood with relativeease, thanks to advances in areas such as hard disk drive design andrelational database design. Once the media assets are stored, however,managing them over the course of their lifecycle (e.g., deciding if aparticular picture is indecent, or if a particular recording contains asegment of a copyrighted work) is a difficult problem, conventionalsolutions to which remain rooted in old practices.

For example, several user-submitted content web sites, such as Youtube,manage very large sets of media assets in the form of user-submittedvideos. The lifecycle of an exemplary video on such a website caninvolve import or upload processing, decency guideline violationreviewing, copyright guideline violation reviewing, and possiblydeletion or elevation to a ranked or featured status. In order to reviewevery user-submitted video for copyright violations, for example, thewebsite can implement a variety of ad-hoc or manual processes. It canemploy an army of human reviewers to look at each user-submitted video.Alternatively, it can demand copyrighted material from copyright holdersto compare with its user-submitted videos in a brute-force manner.Neither of these processes scale well to manage the modern flood ofuser-submitted video content. Thus, the website may simply resort towaiting for a copyright holder to take some action, such as threateningor instituting a legal action, which entails major issues.

Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficienciesin the art by providing an improved method and system for managing thelifecycle of media assets.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There is provided a method and system for managing the lifecycles ofmedia assets, substantially as shown in and/or described in connectionwith at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in theclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of the present invention will become morereadily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewingthe following detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an exemplary system for managing thelifecycles of media assets, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of an exemplary system for managing thelifecycles of media assets, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 3 is a flowchart presenting a method of managing the lifecycles ofmedia assets, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present application is directed to a method and system for managingthe lifecycles of media assets. The following description containsspecific information pertaining to the implementation of the presentinvention. One skilled in the art will recognize that the presentinvention may be implemented in a manner different from thatspecifically discussed in the present application. Moreover, some of thespecific details of the invention are not discussed in order not toobscure the invention. The specific details not described in the presentapplication are within the knowledge of a person of ordinary skill inthe art. The drawings in the present application and their accompanyingdetailed description are directed to merely exemplary embodiments of theinvention. To maintain brevity, other embodiments of the invention,which use the principles of the present invention, are not specificallydescribed in the present application and are not specificallyillustrated by the present drawings. It should be borne in mind that,unless noted otherwise, like or corresponding elements among the figuresmay be indicated by like or corresponding reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows a diagram of system 100 including media asset lifecyclemanager (MALM) 140 for managing the lifecycle of media assets, accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. MALM 140, in thisconfiguration, imports pictures, searches pictures forroyalty-triggering content, and exports pictures for publication. Inoperation, camera 104, which may be, for example, a film camera or adigital camera, generates pictures 106 a through 110 a of scene 102.Scene 102 may be, for example, a view of guests and a costumed employeein a theme park, and camera 104 may be operated automatically or by aperson, for example by another theme park employee.

Pictures 106 a through 110 a are, in this example, associated withmetadata tags 112 a through 116 a. In particular, picture 106 a isassociated with metadata tag 112 a, picture 108 a is associated withmetadata tag 114 a, and picture 110 a is associated with metadata tag116 a. As camera 104 generates pictures 106 a through 110 a, camera 104may simultaneously generate and associate metadata tags 112 a through116 a. In metadata tags 112 a through 116 a, camera 104 may record anidentification tag, for example, a picture sequence number, a timestamp,or a location in the theme park where associated pictures 106 a through110 a were taken. Camera 104 may contain pictures and metadata tags 106a through 116 a internally in, for example, a digital memory or a rollof film. Alternatively, camera 104 may instead transmit pictures andmetadata tags 106 a through 116 a to an external storage location (notshown).

Pictures and metadata tags 106 a through 116 a may be imported into MALM140 by a variety of means. For example, pictures and metadata tags 106 athrough 116 a may be imported into MALM 140 through an electricalconnection between a memory in camera 104 and a memory in MALM 140,through a wireless connection between a radio device in camera 104 and aradio device in MALM 140, or via an external storage device (such as aflash-memory card, not shown). Pictures and metadata tags 106 a through116 a may be imported simultaneously, or in separate sessions ortransactions. Once imported, pictures and metadata tags 106 a through116 a may be managed by utilizing various filters and/or an executiveincluded in the present embodiment of MALM 140, such as tagging filter142, grouping filter 144, and executive 146.

Inside MALM 140, pictures and metadata tags 106 b through 116 bcorrespond to pictures and metadata tags 106 a through 116 a afterimportation and subsequent evaluation by tagging filter 142. Taggingfilter 142 may evaluate pictures and metadata tags 106 a through 116 a,after importation into MALM 140, in a variety of ways. For example,tagging filter 142 may evaluate picture 106 a and associated metadatatag 112 a to determine if one or more additional metadata tags should beassociated, or if already-associated metadata tag 112 a should bedisassociated and removed. To make such an evaluation, tagging filter142 may utilize the information in picture 106 a, the information inmetadata tag 112 a, or both. Tagging filter 142 may obtain theinformation in picture 106 a, for example, by utilizing a computerizedimage processing of pictures 106 a and comparison other information orpictures a database. Alternatively, tagging filter 142 may utilizeinformation from other sources to evaluate picture 106 a and metadatatag 112 a; for example, tagging filter 142 might utilize information inpictures 108 a and 110 a. Tagging filter 142 may evaluate picture 106 ato determine, for example, if picture 106 a contains copyrightedmaterial, violates a decency policy, or satisfies some other criteria.

In the present embodiment, tagging filter 142 is configured to determineif later publication of pictures 106 a through 110 a will triggerroyalty payment. Payment of a royalty might be triggered in thecircumstance, for example, where a costumed employee in scene 102appears in a picture wearing a cartoon character costume that has beenlicensed from an outside party. Thus, tagging filter 142 can searchpictures 106 a through 110 a for images of a cartoon character that areprotected by copyright or fall under third party licenses. In doing so,tagging filter 142 generates pictures and metadata tags 106 b through116 b, and additionally generates new metadata tags 118 b and 120 b. Inthis example, picture 108 b is associated with metadata tag 118 b, andpicture 110 b is associated with metadata tag 120 b. Metadata tags 118 band 120 b indicate that associated pictures 108 b and 110 b contain animage that triggers royalty payment upon later publication.

After being generated by tagging filter 142, pictures and metadata tags106 b through 120 b can be evaluated by grouping filter 144. Unliketagging filter 142, grouping filter 144 does not associate or dissociatemetadata tags from pictures. Instead, grouping filter 144 separatespictures into different groups based on the information in metadata tagsassociated with those pictures.

In the present embodiment, grouping filter 144 is configured to separatepictures associated with metadata tags that indicate royalty-triggeringimagery from pictures that are not so associated. Thus, in evaluatingpictures and metadata tags 106 b through 120 b, grouping filter 144generates a first group including picture 106 c and associated metadatatag 112 c, and a second group including pictures 108 c and 110 c andassociated metadata tags 114 c through 120 c.

After being generated by grouping filter 144, picture 106 c andassociated metadata tag 112 c can be, for example, stored in MALM 140for later use. In the meantime, pictures 108 c and 110 c and associatedmetadata tags 114 c through 120 c can be evaluated by executive 146.Unlike tagging and grouping filters 142 and 144, executive 146 hasabilities that extend beyond associating and dissociating metadata tagsand separating pictures into groups; for example, executive 146 canmodify or delete a picture.

In the present embodiment, executive 146 is implemented as a personoperating a computer terminal, and evaluates pictures according to themepark quality guidelines. Executive 146 may decide to delete picture 108c if the image is blurred or partially obscured, and retain picture 110c because the image has no such impairment. In deleting picture 108 cand associated metadata tags 114 c and 118 c, executive 146 generatesdeleted picture 108 d and associated deleted metadata tags 114 d and 118d. Deleted picture 108 d may be erased from a storage medium in MALM140, or may be retained in some inactive capacity. Executive 146 retainspicture 110 c and associated metadata tags 116 c and 120 c by generatingpicture 110 d and associated metadata tags 116 d and 120 d. Executive146 may then dissociate metadata tags 116 d and 120 d and export picture110 d for publication and royalty payment, as depicted by exportedpicture 110 e.

Thus, in MALM 140 of FIG. 1, the allocation of tasks between taggingfilter 142, grouping filter 144, and executive 146 allows for efficientmanagement of the lifecycles of pictures 106 a through 110 a. Utilizinga clearly defined set of procedures, MALM 140 stores picture 106 a (at106 c) for later use, deletes low-quality picture 108 a (at 108 d), andexports for publication and royalty payment picture 110 a (at 110 e).

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of system 200 including media asset lifecyclemanager (MALM) 240 for managing the lifecycle of media assets, accordingto another embodiment of the present invention. In operation, mediaassets pictures 202 a and 204 a, videos 206 a and 208 a, and associatedmetadata tags 210 a through 216 a are imported into MALM 240 utilizing,for example, means similar to those used to import media assets intoMALM 140. Prior to importation, pictures 202 a and 204 a, videos 206 aand 208 a, and associated metadata tags 210 a through 216 a may havebeen generated by, for example, a picture and video-producing camcorder(not shown), or by more than one source.

In the present embodiment, pictures 202 a and 204 a and videos 206 a and208 a are associated with metadata tags 210 a through 216 a. Inparticular, picture 202 a is associated with metadata tag 210 a, picture204 a is associated with metadata tag 212 a, video 206 a is associatedwith metadata tag 214 a, and video 208 a is associated with metadata tag216 a. Metadata tags 210 a through 216 a contain information about whatkind of media asset each is associated with, and may contain otherinformation such as, for example, a timestamp. After importation, MALM240 can manage the lifecycles of pictures 202 a and 204 a and videos 206a and 208 a by using filters 230 through 236 and an executive 238.

After being imported into MALM 240, pictures 202 a and 204 a, videos 206a and 208 a, and associated metadata tags 210 a through 216 a can beevaluated by grouping filter 230. Grouping filter 230 can be implementedas, for example, software executing on a computer processor (not shown),or as a human using a computer terminal (not shown). Like groupingfilter 144 of system 100, grouping filter 230 separates media assetsinto different groups based on the information in metadata tagsassociated with those media assets.

In the present embodiment, grouping filter 230 is configured to separatepicture media assets from video media assets. Thus, after evaluatingpictures 202 a and 204 a, videos 206 a and 208 a, and associatedmetadata tags 210 a through 216 a, grouping filter 230 generates group222 a including corresponding pictures 202 b and 204 b and associatedmetadata tags 210 b and 212 b, and group 224 a including correspondingpictures 206 b and 208 b and associated metadata tags 214 b and 216 b.Group 222 a is a group of picture media assets, and group 224 a is agroup of video media assets.

After being sorted into group 222 a, pictures 202 b and 204 b andassociated metadata tags 210 b and 212 b can be evaluated by taggingfilter 232. Tagging filter 232 may evaluate media assets and associatedmetadata tags in a variety of ways. For example, tagging filter 232 mayevaluate picture 202 b and associated metadata tag 210 b to determine ifone or more additional metadata tags should be associated, or ifalready-associated metadata tag 210 b should be removed. To make such anevaluation, tagging filter 232 may utilize the information in picture202 b, in metadata tag 210 b, or in both. Tagging filter 232 may obtainthe information in picture 202 b, for example, by utilizing acomputerized image processing of pictures 202 b and comparison otherinformation or pictures a database. Alternatively, tagging filter 232may utilize information from other sources; for example, the informationin picture 204 b and metadata tag 212 b.

In the present embodiment, tagging filter 232 is configured to determineif a picture violates a decency guideline. A decency guideline might beviolated, for instance, if a picture contains imagery that isinappropriate for viewing by minors. After evaluating pictures 202 b and204 b and associated metadata tags 210 b and 212 b, tagging filter 232generates corresponding pictures 202 c and 204 c and associated metadatatags 210 c and 212 c, as well as new associated metadata tag 218 c, ingroup 222 b. Metadata tag 218 c is associated with picture 202 c, andindicates that picture 202 c may contain indecent content.

Tagging filter 234 evaluates videos 206 b and 208 b and associatedmetadata tags 214 b and 216 b of group 224 a in a fashion similar tothat utilized by tagging filter 232 on the contents of group 222 a.Tagging filter 234, in the present embodiment, is configured todetermine if a video violates a decency guideline. Like the picturedecency guideline applied by tagging filter 232, the video decencyguideline applied by tagging filter 234 might be violated, for instance,if a video contains imagery that is inappropriate for viewing by minors.After evaluating videos 206 b and 208 b and associated metadata tags 214b and 216 b, tagging filter 234 generates corresponding videos 206 c and208 c and associated metadata tags 214 c and 216 c, as well as newassociated metadata tag 220 c, in group 224 b. Metadata tag 220 c isassociated with video 206 c, and indicates that video 206 c may containindecent content.

Thus, the result of evaluating the contents of groups 222 a and 224 awith tagging filters 232 and 234 is corresponding groups 222 b and 224b. MALM 240 can then proceed by evaluating the contents of groups 222 band 224 b with grouping filter 236. Grouping filter 236, like groupingfilter 230, can separate media assets into different groups based on theinformation in metadata tags associated with those media assets.Furthermore, grouping filter 236 can similarly be implemented as, forexample, software executing on a computer processor (not shown), or as ahuman using a computer terminal (not shown).

In the present embodiment, grouping filter 236 is configured to separatemedia assets that have been associated with a metadata tag indicative ofindecent content from those that have not. Thus, after evaluatingmetadata tags 210 c through 220 c, grouping filter 236 generates group226 a, which includes picture 202 d, video 206 d, and associatedmetadata tags 210 d, 214 d, 218 d, and 220 d, and group 228 a, whichincludes picture 204 d, video 208 d, and associated metadata tags 212 dand 216 d. Notably, the contents of groups 226 a and 228 a do notcorrespond to the contents of groups 222 b and 224 b. Group 226 a is agroup of media assets that have been associated with metadata tagsindicative of indecent content, and group 228 a is a group of mediaassets that have not been so associated.

After being generated by grouping filter 236, pictures 202 d and 204 d,videos 206 d and 208 d, and associated metadata tags 210 d through 220 dcan be evaluated by executive 238. Unlike tagging and grouping filters230 through 236, executive 238 has abilities that extend beyondassociating and dissociating metadata tags and separating media assetsinto groups; for example, executive 238 can modify or delete a mediaasset. Executive 238 can be implemented, for example, as softwareexecuting on a computer processor (not shown), or as a human using acomputer terminal (not shown).

In this embodiment, executive 238 may perform final reviews of mediaassets that have been associated with metadata tags indicative ofindecent content. For example, executive 238 may delete picture 202 dand associated metadata tags 210 d and 218 d, thereby generating deletedpicture 202 e and associated deleted metadata tags 210 e and 218 e, uponconfirming that picture 202 d contains indecent content. Deleted picture202 e may be erased from a storage medium in MALM 140, or may beretained in some inactive capacity. In contrast, upon performing a finalreview of video 206 d and deciding that video 206 d is not indecent,executive 238 may opt to retain video 206 d and associated metadata tag214 d, and delete inaccurate metadata tag 220 d, thereby generatingvideo 206 e, associated metadata tag 214 e, and deleted metadata tag 220e.

Thus, in MALM 240, the application of tagging and grouping filters 230through 236 and executive 238 allows for the efficient management of thelifecycles of pictures 202 a and 204 a and videos 206 a and 208 a.Utilizing a number of steps, MALM 240 isolates potentially indecentmedia assets, performs a final review of those media assets, deletesindecent picture 202 a (at 202 e), and retains picture 204 a and videos206 a and 208 a (at picture 204 d and videos 208 d and 206 e). A notableadvantage of MALM 240 is that because of the work done by filters 230through 236, executive 238 need only evaluate a small portion of themedia assets originally imported into the system. Thus, executive 238can afford to give more intense scrutiny to suspect media assets, or canspend less overall resources evaluating suspect media assets. Incontrast, present conventional methods and systems for achieving similarresults apply executive review in an ad-hoc, inefficient fashion.

FIG. 3 shows flowchart 300 of an exemplary method of managing thelifecycles of media assets. Certain details and features have been leftout of flowchart 300 that are apparent to a person of ordinary skill inthe art. For example, a step may comprise one or more substeps or mayinvolve specialized equipment or materials, as known in the art. Whilesteps 310 through 360 indicated in flowchart 300 are sufficient todescribe one embodiment of the present invention, other embodiments ofthe invention may utilize steps different from those shown in flowchart300.

In step 310 of flowchart 300, a system for managing the lifecycles ofmedia assets imports one or more media assets. Some embodiments of thepresent invention may be capable of managing only one media asset atonce, while other embodiments may be capable of managing many mediaassets at once. Some embodiments of the present invention may store hardcopies of imported media assets, while other embodiments may storeimported media assets on digital storage devices such as hard diskdrives. A media asset imported into the system can be a picture, avideo, an audio recording, or any other conceivable instance of media.

Moving on with flowchart 300, step 320 comprises evaluating the importedmedia asset or assets with one or more tagging filters to determine ifmetadata tags should be associated with them. Tagging filters can beimplemented in the media asset lifecycle management system by anymechanism capable of examining a media asset against a set of criteria.For example, in one embodiment, a tagging filter may be a computerprogram running in software that searches digital picture files forcopyrighted imagery. If a tagging filter determines that a particularmedia asset fails to meet its evaluation criteria, no further actionneeds to be taken, but if a particular media asset does meet theevaluation criteria of the filter, an association step may be taken.

Step 330 of flowchart 300 comprises associating a metadata tag with amedia asset, after a tagging filter has determined that such anassociation is appropriate. For example, if a tagging filter determinesthat a particular media asset contains copyrighted material, then ametadata tag indicating that fact will be associated with the mediaasset. For example, an association step might entail imprinting aphotograph with a human-readable copyright stamp, or might entaillinking a digital picture record with a metadata tag record in adatabase. By associating a metadata tag with a media asset, persistentinformation can be tied to the media asset as it is processed throughthe media asset lifecycle management system.

Moving on with flowchart 300, step 340 comprises evaluating media assetsaccording to the metadata tags they are associated with, if any, byusing a grouping filter. Grouping filters can be implemented in themedia asset lifecycle management system by any mechanism capable ofexamining a metadata tag against a set of criteria. Thus, in oneembodiment, a grouping filter may be implemented as an optical scannerfor scanning tagged photographs, while in another embodiment a groupingfilter may be implemented as a database query.

Step 350 of flowchart 300 comprises grouping media assets and associatedmetadata tags, if any, after evaluating them with a grouping filter. Inone embodiment, for example, media assets may be grouped with amechanical sorter for sorting photographs into different stacks. Inanother embodiment, media assets may be grouped with a database querythat outputs two or more sets of database records.

Step 360 of flowchart 300 comprises evaluating grouped media assets andassociated metadata tags by utilizing an executive. An executive may beimplemented as any mechanism capable of performing executive tasks, suchas deletion or exportation from the media asset lifecycle managementsystem. After evaluation, an executive may delete some or all of themedia assets in a group, or place evaluated media assets into new ordifferent groups. For example, in one embodiment an executive may be aperson who examines a stack of photos bearing imprinted copyright tags,while in another embodiment an executive may be a database query thathas record deletion privileges. By evaluating media assets in specificgroups, instead of evaluating media assets in entire sets, an executivecan conserve resources or give each media asset more intense scrutiny.

Thus, the present application discloses a method and system for managingthe lifecycles of media assets. By importing media assets into a systemfor managing their lifecycles, one embodiment of the present inventioncollects those media assets for convenient review. By utilizing taggingand grouping filters in advantageous combinations, media assets thathave been imported can be evaluated and sorted into groups of varyingcharacteristics, for further efficient evaluation by additional taggingand grouping filters or by executives. In various embodiments of thepresent invention, executives may override the prior evaluations offilters, delete media assets, or export media assets from the lifecyclemanagement systems for external use.

From the above description of the invention it is manifest that varioustechniques can be used for implementing the concepts of the presentinvention without departing from its scope. Moreover, while theinvention has been described with specific reference to certainembodiments, a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize thatchanges can be made in form and detail without departing from the spiritand the scope of the invention. It should also be understood that theinvention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein,but is capable of many rearrangements, modifications, and substitutionswithout departing from the scope of the invention.

1. A method for managing the lifecycles of a plurality of pictures, the method comprising: importing the plurality of pictures and a plurality of metadata associated with the plurality of pictures from a camera into a computer system having a memory and a processor for managing the lifecycles of the plurality of pictures; determining, using one or more automated tagging filters, one or more metadata tags for association with the plurality of pictures by comparing information obtained from the plurality of pictures using a computerized image processing with information for a cartoon character to determine an existence of the cartoon character in addition to guests of a theme park in one of the plurality of pictures; associating the one or more metadata tags with the plurality of pictures after determining one or more metadata tags for association with the plurality of pictures; grouping the plurality of pictures according to the one or more metadata tags associated with the plurality of pictures by evaluating the one or more metadata tags with one or more grouping filters to generate a plurality of picture groups; and exporting one of the plurality of picture groups including the one of the plurality of pictures having the cartoon character in addition to guests of the theme park for publication and royalty payment.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the cartoon character is a costumed person.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising importing one or more external metadata tags associated with the plurality of pictures.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising grouping the plurality of pictures according to the one or more metadata tags and the one or more external metadata tags associated with the plurality of pictures to generate the plurality of picture groups.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising executing an action on the plurality of pictures in the one or more media asset groups.
 6. A computer system for managing the lifecycles of a plurality of pictures including a first picture and a second picture, the computer system comprising: a processor; and a memory in communication with the processor, the memory including: one or more metadata tags, the one or more metadata tags being configured to associate with the plurality of pictures; one or more automated tagging filters, the one or more automated tagging filters being configured to determine one or more metadata tags for association with the plurality of pictures by comparing information obtained from the plurality of pictures using a computerized image processing with information for a cartoon character to determine an existence of the cartoon character in addition to guests of a theme park in one of the plurality of pictures, and associate the one or more metadata tags with the plurality of pictures after determining one or more metadata tags for association with the plurality of pictures; and one or more grouping filters, the one or more grouping filters being configured to group the plurality of pictures according to the one or more metadata tags associated with the plurality of pictures by evaluating the one or more metadata tags with one or more grouping filters to generate a plurality of picture groups, and export one of the plurality of picture groups including the one of the plurality of pictures having the cartoon character in addition to guests of the theme park for publication and royalty payment.
 7. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the cartoon character is a costumed person.
 8. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to import one or more external metadata tags associated with the plurality of pictures.
 9. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the one or more grouping filters are further configured to group the plurality of pictures according to the one or more metadata tags and the one or more external metadata tags associated with the plurality of pictures to generate the plurality of picture groups.
 10. The computer system of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to execute an action on the plurality of pictures in the one or more media asset groups. 